Is it legal for the manager to keep all the tips?

[Tups]

My son works for a large pub food chain. Over the past year, an estimated £10,000 has been collected in tips but the staff have not seen a penny of it! The staff have asked about it but keep getting fobbed off with things like: 'It's all in the safe. We'll go paint-balling sometime in the year.' I have been doing some research locally and found that other establishments give the staff their share of tips each week. The average amount seems to be around £20 pw each. My question: Is it legal for the manager to keep the tips? If not, what can the staff do about it without getting the sack?

[mrs_overall]

Does he have a contract? If so, arrangements on tips should be in there

If not, why not ring head office and ask what the firms policy is.

[dotty.]

ting the tax office, staff may well be being taxed for a tips recieved amount and the cash is not being declared by the sound of it

[pink-kittens]

but, if your son and the rest of the staff are not getting the tips how on earth do you come up with this figure?

[Tups]

They see roughly how much is put in the jar every night. It is always full of £5 and £10 notes and loads of pounds coins. The local chip shop with its small restaurant collects on average £100 per week so one can assume this very large pub collects at least double that. Hence the figure £10,000.

[Tups]

Mrs. Overall, I don't know about his contract. I will find out.

[squarebear]

£10 notes as tips?! Jeez!

[PipinHull]

http://www.adviceguid...witholds_your_pay.pdf

There seems to be a difference between cash and credit card tips - I'm assuming if the staff receive a cash tip they just hang on to it? Or does it go in a jar?

[PipinHull]

Sorry, cross-posted - if they receive the tips in cash then this counts as a gift to staff and should not (according to CAB) be kept back. Why don't they put the money in their pockets instead of a jar?

[Tups]

They aren't allowed to hang on to it. They'd get the sack if they were found keeping cash tips!!! That's the irony!!

[Tups]

I'm amazed at the size of some of the tips but if you work out 10% as the accepted figure and the average meal plus a couple of drinks coming to £20 it soon adds up.

[seadogg]

Tups, put "tronc" into google and you will learn a lot. The tronc is a scheme for the distribution of tips.

[Tups]

Did that, thanks. Lots of info there. Seems tax in due and, if it's distributed by the proprietor, NI contributions too. I'm sure the tax man would be interested to know what's happened to the money!

[PipinHull]

Not sure on what grounds they would get the sack for keeping what is their property - unless it's in their contract that they must hand them over? As this article says, cash tips are the property of the staff member they are given to:

http://www.independen...ble-truth-867545.html

Obviously a tronc scheme would be fairer as it means back of house staff also receive a share, and it allows credit card tips to be included. But in the absence of that, at the very minimum the cash tips left on the tables are NOT the pub's property.

[Tups]

I keep losing the link! I agree with you Pipin. The big question is, what should the staff do about it? I've advised my son to look for a job elsewhere but to stay on the right side of his boss as he will require her to write a reference. The cowardly way out, I know, but is the alternative worth wrecking his future employment prospects?

[PipinHull]

I suspect that's how they get away with it - so many people use the hospitality industry as a stop-gap job that they don't have a vested interest in fighting something like this. It would certainly be tempting to let the Inland Revenue know as Dotty says, or the head office at least, as Mrs Overall suggests. I used to work for a big pub chain and they were scrupulous about distributing tips so they are not all bad.

[donna1901]

why doesn't the staff get together at end of shift and split the tips before the manager gets his hands on it, if the manager doesn't like it ask him "you gonna sack us all". tips are given as a personal charge, when i give a tip i'm tipping the service members who've served me, not the person out the back. also i would contact head office and maybe even hmrc as "extra income", tips are tips but if the manager is keeping that sort of money then i'd make sure the taxman knew about it just to spite the manager.